A man whose son has gone missing in the mountains does all he can to find him.
Written and directed by Chi-Leung Law, the film is on the more dramatic side, something Donnie Yen is exploring more and more lately, giving him a lead role that is not based on fights or action scenes. Here, the character played by Yen is a father who is flawed, abusive even, and who leaves his son behind on a mountain road “just for a few minutes” to teach him a lesson. This of course turns bad. The film goes from here showing the effects of a child going missing on the family, mom, dad, and sister, as well as on the police and rescue teams. The film has good ideas and it’s definitely a subject worth exploring, but the writing here has issues, a lot of them. For starters, it’s difficult to connect with the father as he brought this onto himself, his son, and his family. The more we learn about him and how he shows no care, is willing to hit his kid to make a point and is all around neglectful to his family makes it harder to care about him. The writing has other issues like some of the scenes in the snow and on a frozen lake where things are done in such stupid ways, it makes you wonder if the writer has ever been to a snowy, cold area before. Some of these things are basic knowledge for anyone living where winter is cold, and ice is everywhere. There are also issues with rescues and CPR, but those happen a lot in many films, so it’s almost understandable why they found their way here. Nonetheless, this shows that the writing and directing was done with a lack of care for details and for reality. Had these things been on point and the father been more caring in the flashbacks, it would be easier to connect with him and care about his plight. Thankfully, the mother is a better written character in terms of caring and her character arc is better overall.
The cast here is led by Donnie Yen who does well with the character given, there are issues with the character and his actions, but he works with these and gives a solid performance within the confines of what was on the script page. Playing his wife is Cecilia Han who does very well here, she’s solidly emotional throughout, exactly as expected of a mother whose son has gone missing an easily preventable event. She’s great here and really anchors the film. In terms of the rest of the cast, the acting is great, showing emotions, frustrations, and how a case like this may take a toll on people working it, especially given the potential source of the issue.
The film does look and sound great, it’s shot very well, with great cinematography that makes the desolate roads, mountains, and snow feel cold and imposing, making each location feel like somewhere that could lead to problems, giving the natural threats to the missing child credence. The film also has a a good sound design, giving the crunching of snow, the falling avalanche, and ice breaking, that extra power from the audio.
Polar Rescue is a heavily flawed film with most of the issues coming from the script and how the characters are developed, especially the lead. There are issues here in realism that are difficult to ignore and those bring down a film with otherwise lots of talent behind and in front of the camera. As a film where Donnie Yen gets to work on a more emotional part, he does great here, so it’s worth checking out for his performance even if the story has some serious issues.